Away day blues

Once again the fact we were even able to play the fixture is testament to the resources we are able to call upon and having 21 players (by the end of the match) is one massive bonus. To complete the match without any additional names on the Physio board is also good for the team. We need to get ourselves training and playing more as a unit as ultimately we were not beaten by a better side just a better drilled team.

We had a number of new faces: Max, Louis, George, George & Scott and some faces that were definitely not new but not seen for a while Wes & Jeevo. That number of additions will mean that not everyone was always on the same wavelength but it was a battling performance against a team that belittled their league position - difficult to see why they had given one Walk-over and rolled over in the other.

With line-out jumpers a little scarce Max stepped in to his first Senior match with the added pressure of being our only line-out option and did extremely well and was ultimately Man of the Match, Louis also in his first senior match had fewer chances to shine but made a couple of good breaks and was very impressive in defence. George came off the bench to join the trio of senior debutants and will hopefully gain confidence from his opportunity.
We had to start with a number of players out of position whilst people completed their navigation of the traffic ridden M25 and although it was another battling performance a couple of small errors and a kicker that punished every error in judgement meant it was an uphill stuggle.
HT Chobham 18 - Chipstead 0
Coach Brian rolled the bench to try and work out the most competitive team but whilst the two big packs were mostly at stalemate the difference was the understanding of the Chobham back line that probably should of scored a number of other tries if it wasn't for some excellent last ditch tackles and cover play. When Chipstead were able to keep the ball for longer periods the forwards interlinked well and managed to generate some front foot passages. There was even a period of sustained pressure in the Chobham twenty two that lead to a solid scrum and a pick and go from Alex Canon got something on the scoreboard.
Jeevo though kicking the two extra was unnecessary.
FT Chobham 38 - Chipstead 5

It would be great to get as many of the new players up at training and get the understanding where it needs to be as the team is getting there the results will follow.